يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك

Overview

Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, was given allegiance to the caliphate after Hisham, and it is said that Marwan ibn Muhammad gave him the nickname "al-Naqis" (the Deficient). He died in the year 126 AH ¹ ². His kunya was Abu Khalid ³.

His lineage and nickname

According to al-Suyuti, his mother was Shahfarand, daughter of Firuz ibn Yazdegerd; the mother of Firuz was daughter of Shiruyeh ibn Khusraw; and the mother of Shiruyeh was daughter of Khaqan, king of the Turks. For this reason he said in boasting: "I am the son of Khusraw and of my father Marwan". al-Tha'alibi said that he was the most highly descended in kingship from both sides ⁴.

al-Mas'udi reports that he was squint-eyed, and was given the nickname "al-Naqis", though he was not deficient in his body or his mind; rather, some of the soldiers had their allowances reduced ⁵.

His rising

According to al-Suyuti, he seized the caliphate and killed his cousin al-Walid. According to al-Mas'udi, his rising took place in Damascus, with a group of the Mu'tazila and others from the people of Darayya and al-Mazza, against al-Walid ibn Yazid, because of what had appeared of his wickedness among them ⁴ ³.

Views and belief

al-Mas'udi attributes to him the adoption of the view of the Mu'tazila on the five principles, and reports that the Mu'tazila preferred him to Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz in religion ⁵. al-Suyuti transmits from Ibn Abd al-Hakam, from al-Shafi'i, that when he came to power he called people to predestination and compelled them to it, and brought near the companions of Ghaylan ⁴.

Sources

Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk — al-Tabari (ed. Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim) , j.7 p.262

Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk — al-Tabari (ed. Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim) , j.7 p.298

Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 212

Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 408-409

Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 204

Muhammad Qabbani, The Umayyad State from Birth to Fall (Damascus: Dar Wahy al-Qalam, 2006)

Lectures on the History of the Islamic Peoples: The Umayyad State — al-Khudari

al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik

Umayyad caliph; he died in the middle of Jumada II, in the year 96. al-Tabari mentions in his account the building of mosques, and in his reign Musa ibn Nusayr conquered al-Andalus and Qutayba conquered Kashgar. In al-Mas'udi, he told Rawh ibn Zinba' the story of al-Marzuban, the boon-companion of Sabur ibn Sabur, who learned the barking of dogs, the howling of wolves and the braying of donkeys until the king laughed at him and restored him to his rank, so that Rawh might by a similar ruse win back Abd al-Malik's goodwill. He was acclaimed at Damascus on the day Abd al-Malik died, in the middle of Jumada II of the year 86; his reign lasted nine years, eight months and two nights, and he died aged forty-three. He was called Abu al-Abbas, and his seal read: 'O Walid, you are mortal.' In the year 87 he began the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Mosque of the Messenger in Medina, with Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz in charge of the expenses. When he heard the sound of a church bell he ordered it demolished; al-Akhram, king of the Romans, wrote to him that the church had been approved by those before him: 'if they were right, you were wrong, and if you were right, they were wrong'; al-Farazdaq answered him with the verse about David and Solomon. He wrote to his brother Sulayman reproaching him for wishing for his death; Sulayman apologised and his apology was accepted. The book notes that he was so devoted to building and urban works that he was called 'the engineer of the Umayyads', and that when enlarging the Prophet's Mosque he brought the chambers of the Mothers of the Believers into it, to which a number of Medinan jurists objected. The book notes that he founded the first hospital for lepers in Damascus in 88 AH, ordered the roads leading to the Hijaz to be paved, and that the diwan of estate revenues (diwan al-mustaghallat) appeared in his time; that he died in Jumada II 96 AH; and that the length of his reign is disputed, the book choosing the view of al-Zuhri: ten years less a month. The book relates that al-Walid wished to depose Sulayman and pledge allegiance to his son Abd al-Aziz; Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz advised him that allegiance is a single knot, so al-Walid grew angry and shut the door on him until Umm al-Banin intervened. The book also reports Umar's stance on the killing of a Haruri Kharijite whom al-Hajjaj had sent: Umar disapproved of killing him without proven guilt.